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2008-11-18 issue:

Young adults set own agenda at retreat

‘Quarterlife crisis,’ inclusiveness and disagreeing in the church main topics

by Anna Groff

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Young adults at the North American Young Adult Fellowship (YAF) retreat Oct. 30-Nov. 2 in Keezletown, Va., named their top concerns: inclusiveness in the church, disagreeing well and "quarterlife crisis"—a term applied to young adults. "Using our resources" was a close fourth.


From left: Laura Epp of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Shanda Hochstetler of Portland, Ore.; and Amanda Gross of Atlanta, at the binational young adult retreat in Keezletown, Va. Photo by Anna Groff.

Instead of having a keynote speaker, participants named these concerns from a process, "open space technology," in which self-appointed conveners held sessions and listed recommendations.

The group narrowed the topics down to three, named actions, then the convener decided the next step. All three conveners decided to move toward some actions while continuing to discern. Area conference leaders and churchwide agencies in Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada will receive reports from the retreat.

Amanda Gross, the convener for "inclusiveness," said she intended the term to mean welcoming new religions, ethnicities and sexual orientations into Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada congregations.

"I really like that we got to set our own agenda," she said.

Anya Williamson, convener for "quarterlife crisis," said the process "helped narrow down what the community thinks is important."

In the "quarterlife crisis" session, Jennifer Weaver of Harrisonburg, Va., said she felt alone during the first several years out of college.

"I think the church could step in at that point," she added.

Recommendations that came out of the "quarterlife crisis" discussions included a staff person for young adult programming in each U.S. and Canadian conference, a young adult "Mennonite Your Way" and more regional gatherings for young adults.

Other topics named by the young adult conveners included community, bringing service home, decisions about overseas missions, peacemaking and "roots and wings."

Peter Epp, YAF committee member, told the group on Nov. 2, "This is the first time it felt like [the people in this] room is YAF."

Shanda Hochstetler, Portland, Ore., said participants at this year’s YAF retreat seemed to challenge and charge themselves to work at the changes they desire instead of automatically criticizing or blaming the church.

Epp said YAF hopes for a representative from each area conference at its annual gatherings. About seven of the 25 attended in that capacity this year.

YAF is the young adult arm of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada with staff Dave Bergen, executive secretary of Christian formation for Mennonite Church Canada, and Scott Hartman, convention planning for Mennonite Church USA. Bergen led worship for the YAF retreat.

Other committee members include Evan McCarthy, Alissa Bender, Jessica Dyck, Jill Swiers, Peter Epp, Scott Hartman and David Maurer.

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